


Apache

by aggiepuff



Series: Apache [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 08:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6604597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aggiepuff/pseuds/aggiepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cora Redrock had a Soulmate once upon a time way back when. He's long-dead though, reduced to a pile of bones in a far off grave by the century-worth of decades since she last saw him--or so she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apache

The first time Jimmy sees her he is twenty-six years old, working as a ranch hand in Wyoming with his brother Victor. They've been here for three days and he has been sent up to the main house for the first time in search of the housekeeper. When he asked what the housekeeper looked like the foreman had laughed and told him to find the "mouthy little Injun". 

When Jimmy enters the kitchen she is standing at the work table set in the middle of the room kneading a lump of dough. There is no mistaking her for anything but an Indian. Her ink black is in twin braids, the ends just brushing the apron tied at her waist over a calico skirt. The summer sun streaming through the open window warms her cheeks, adding a burnished copper hue to their soft brown color of worked leather. The sleeves of her loose homespun shirt are tied at her elbows exposing strong, work roughened, but small, hands, delicate wrists, and muscled arms. Her dark skin is a stark contrast to the whiteness of the shirt and he stands in the doorway for a moment, watching as she continues her work. It's only once she's rolled the dough out flat with a wooden rolling pin that she looks up. 

Jimmy swallows hard. He's not exactly a novice when it comes to the opposite sex but it's been a while and he's never seen such startling green eyes, especially not in a face as dark as hers, and his heart jumps. She looks at him curiously, one black brow raised. 

When she speaks it's his words, the words tattooed on his ribcage since birth. His Soulmark. 

"Hello," she says with a friendly uplift to her full lips. "Are you one of the foreman's boys? I don't think I've seen you before. My name is Cora."

Jimmy's tongue sticks to his suddenly dry mouth. He swallows quickly, trying desperately to ignore the way her voice is on just this side of husky and how her white shirt sticks to her sweat soaked skin. He's just turning to leave, the boss's message completely forgotten, praying Victor won't notice his flushed cheeks or the excited spike in his scent. 

"You forgot to tell me your name, cowboy."

He freezes halfway out the door. He has to swallow several times before he can get his voice to work. Heart jumping like a jackrabbit, he mutters it over his shoulder, "Jimmy Howlett," as he flees the kitchen. Later that night, as he's laying out under the stars, his head propped up by his saddle, his horse tethered just a few paces away, his mind drifts back to the kitchen and he finds himself dreaming of brown skin, black hair, and green eyes. 

Over the next six months he finds himself creating reasons to visit Cora. He doesn’t even mind when, more than once, she ropes him into helping her around the house. He discovers that she's smarter than most of the women he's met, clever with her hands and wise in the ways of both the world and the earth. Victor gives him mountains of grief when he finds out even as he begins to join him in his visits.

Victor and Cora get along like a house on fire. Cora gives as good as she gets. She enjoys teasing both him and Victor, her eyes gleaming when a particularly good quip springs to mind. Those evenings spent at the heavy wooden table are some of the best times he can remember having and with every laugh, every word, every smile he can feel himself falling in love with Cora a little more.

Jimmy learns that Cora is originally from down South, the daughter of an Apache—she calls her people _Haisndayin—_ warrior and his Indian-raised Irish-born wife and that she's named after her mother's mother who gave her only daughter to the local tribe for safe keeping when outlaws threatened their small homestead. He learns that her people say she has Ghost Eyes. He learns that her father insisted she learn to ride and shoot just as well as any of the warriors in their small band and that the spirited chestnut he's never seen leave the barn is hers. He also learns that he'd like nothing more than to kiss her senseless.

And yet, not once has Cora said she has his words. 

It's the middle of fall before anything changes. She's been twitchy and absentminded all week. He's beginning to wonder if it's something he did wrong when they're on a late afternoon ride. The boss gave him the day off so he invited her for a short ride up to the bluff overlooking the ranch house. She accepted and now they're standing on a cliff, their horses ground tied behind them. Jimmy turns, his mouth opening to ask her what's wrong but, his words are stopped on his tongue by gleam in Cora's bright eyes and then swallowed completely when she yanks him down by the shirt collar and presses her mouth against his. 

There's less of a spark and more of a fire. It roars to life, obscures the world until she is all he knows. He can't get enough of her, the way she feels pressed up against him, the little sounds she makes as he pulls her tighter, how easy it is for him to lift her up and hug her to his chest. 

They break apart when neither has any air left in their lungs. His grin is stupid and only gets wider at the way Cora is beaming up at him. She grabs his hand and tows him back to the horses. They don’t say a word all the way back to the corral or as they unsaddle and brush down their mounts. Cora grabs his hand again as they leave, leading him back to the main house, around the outside and to a door at the back. 

She turns to him then, still smiling, and tilts her head up expectantly. Jimmy doesn’t need another invitation.

This second kiss is as desperate and needy as the first, his large hands sliding over as much as her body as he can reach. Cora buries one hand into his hair, dragging her nails against his scalp. He growls.

Cora grins into the kiss and with the other hand reaches behind her and shoves the door open. Jimmy sees the movement from the corner of his eye and growls again, bending slightly at the knees and wrapping one strong arm just below her behind, hauling her up so he can carry her.

Cora squeaks and instinctively wraps her legs around his waist.

It isn't long before she invites him to share her bed in the small room she has at the back of the house. He's startled by the invitation but when she tells him that she is a "grown ass woman who can take to bed whom so ever I please, thank you very much" he can't help but agree. Victor even seems to approve of them, clapping him on the back and telling him in no uncertain terms that if they hadn't gotten together soon he was going to have to stoop to playing matchmaker. The idea of his older brother as Cupid makes Jimmy wince and he is grateful Cora took matters into her own very capable hands. 

With her shirt off Jimmy can see the thick scrawl, a perfect replica of his own handwriting, spelling out that his name, dark black and bold on her tan skin. Cora smiles at him over her left shoulder. "Your words," she says simply.  

They're together throughout the winter months and a good portion of Spring and he's pretty sure he loves her when everything changes again and this time it's not for the better. He sees the foreman talking with a man he doesn't recognize and when he passes them on his way to the corrals he overhears Cora's name. Later that night he tells his beautiful Cora, whispers it into her skin as they're lying in bed, her face pressed into the crook of his neck, her black hair splayed over the pillow, his hand combing through the silken tresses. She doesn't seem to react, only nuzzling him and pressing herself completely flush against his chest. 

"Kiss me," she says, tilting her head up, perfectly full lips slightly parted. Jimmy doesn't hesitate. He falls asleep sated and happy, his arms encircling Cora's slim waist.  

He wakes at dawn as usual, only the bed is empty. The small indent where Cora should be is cold and in his hand is a note. His heart races as he scrambles to his feet, reading the words written in elegant script on the paper. 

> _Jimmy,_  
>  _Please know that I love you and I have loved you from our very first kiss._  
>  _I pray that one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me for what I have done._  
>  _Love,  
>  _ _Cora_

They don't stay for long after that. Victor insists that it's time they move on. Jimmy knows his brother wants to get him away and he doesn't argue; he wants to leave too. He can't bear the memories, always expecting Cora to appear around every corner. 

Victor enlists them in the army after that and Jimmy loses himself in the violence and the bloodshed, focusing his hurt and his anger until one day he stops feeling it at all. But still, in the dark of the night he can almost see her face, hear her voice, feel her skin. 


End file.
